GOVERNMENT of the United Kingdom, through its
Department for International Development (DfID),
has said it will provide £300 million per year by
2015, as development assistance for Nigeria.
Announcing the plan to inject the fund into the
economy, the UK government said its aim was to
unlock the potential already latent in the Nigerian
economy and pull people out of poverty.
UK's Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham, made the
disclosure at a business and investment summit on
Nigeria, at the Dorchester Hotel, London, on Monday.
The event was hosted by the Nigeria Olympics
Committee and the Bank of Industry (BoI) in Nigeria.
The minister described the Petroleum Industry Bill
(PIB) currently before the National Assembly as of
great significance, as it provides opportunity for
Nigeria to demonstrate to the business community
that it is ready and willing to embrace and protect
new investments.
He said a well-crafted PIB could set a legal framework
that would boost investor confidence in the oil and
gas sector, even as it could ensure immense natural
resources in the country were harnessed and
managed for the good of the Nigerian people.
"In the last year alone, British exports to Nigeria
grew by 13 per cent. The UK remains in the top five
exporters to Nigeria and it remains our second
largest market in Sub-Saharan Africa. The trade is
not all one way, Nigerian exports to Britain have also
grown substantially during this period, despite global
economic challenges," he said.
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